[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":253},["ShallowReactive",2],{"families_en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye":3,"alt-locale:families_en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye":108,"section-listing:families_en:\u002Fsemeystva":109,"section-listing:disabled":246,"related-covers:en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye|\u002Fsemeystva|\u002Fopredelitel":247},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"coverImage":68,"description":69,"extension":70,"faq":71,"imagePrompt":81,"latinName":20,"meta":82,"navigation":83,"order":84,"pageType":85,"path":86,"publishedAt":87,"readingMinutes":88,"relatedLinks":89,"seo":102,"sitemap":105,"stem":106,"taxonRank":85,"updatedAt":84,"__hash__":107},"families_en\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye.md","Starlings (Sturnidae)",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":60},"minimark",[9,14,22,25,29,32,35,39,53,57],[10,11,13],"h2",{"id":12},"what-makes-sturnidae-a-family","What makes Sturnidae a family",[15,16,17,21],"p",{},[18,19,20],"strong",{},"Sturnidae",", the starling family, comprises well over 100 species found natively across Europe, Asia, and Africa, sharing a generally stocky, short-tailed body, a strong, pointed beak suited to a broadly omnivorous diet, and — perhaps the family's most consistently notable trait — a strong tendency toward highly social behavior. Many species roost, forage, and travel in large, cohesive flocks, and several, including the common starling, are known for weaving imitations of other sounds into their own vocal repertoire.",[15,23,24],{},"Plumage across the family often includes some degree of glossy iridescence, ranging from the common starling's shifting purple-green sheen to even more vividly colored patterns in some tropical relatives, though the family's unity rests more on shared social behavior and vocal ability than on any single consistent color scheme.",[10,26,28],{"id":27},"distinctive-traits-across-the-family","Distinctive traits across the family",[15,30,31],{},"Group living reaches a particular extreme in the common starling's winter murmurations, in which enormous, tightly coordinated flocks perform swirling aerial displays before settling into a shared communal roost — a behavior widely studied as a model system for understanding self-organizing collective movement in animals more broadly, with implications reaching well beyond ornithology into physics and computer science research on emergent group behavior.",[15,33,34],{},"Vocal mimicry, another hallmark trait associated with the family, is expressed to varying degrees across different Sturnidae species, reaching a particular extreme in some Asian relatives famous for closely imitating human speech, and reflecting a broader family-wide capacity for flexible vocal learning that the common starling shares and expresses in its own varied, chattering song.",[10,36,38],{"id":37},"species-in-this-family","Species in this family",[15,40,41,42,47,48,52],{},"This atlas currently covers one member of Sturnidae: the ",[43,44,46],"a",{"href":45},"\u002Fen\u002Fvidy-ptic\u002Fvidy\u002Fobyknovenny-skvorets","common starling"," (",[49,50,51],"em",{},"Sturnus vulgaris","), an iridescent, highly social songbird famous for its spectacular winter murmurations and accomplished vocal mimicry. Further Sturnidae species native to the atlas's covered regions will be added to the catalogue over time.",[10,54,56],{"id":55},"where-and-when-to-watch-this-family","Where and when to watch this family",[15,58,59],{},"Farmland, parks, gardens, and towns offer year-round opportunities to see starlings foraging on open ground, but the family's most spectacular behavior — large-scale murmurations — is specifically a late autumn and winter phenomenon, best observed at dusk near known communal roost sites where flocks gather before settling for the night. Reed beds, woodland, and structures such as piers or bridges often serve as favored roosting locations, drawing repeat murmuration displays at the same site across an entire winter season.",{"title":61,"searchDepth":62,"depth":62,"links":63},"",2,[64,65,66,67],{"id":12,"depth":62,"text":13},{"id":27,"depth":62,"text":28},{"id":37,"depth":62,"text":38},{"id":55,"depth":62,"text":56},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye.png","The starling family: gregarious, iridescent, highly vocal songbirds represented in Europe by the common starling and its spectacular winter murmurations.","md",[72,75,78],{"q":73,"a":74},"What physical and behavioral traits define the starling family?","Sturnidae species typically share a fairly stocky, short-tailed body, a strong, pointed beak well suited to a broadly omnivorous diet, and a pronounced tendency toward highly social behavior, including gregarious flocking outside the breeding season and, in many species, an aptitude for vocal mimicry incorporating the sounds of other species into their own varied songs.",{"q":76,"a":77},"Why is the starling family associated with such large flocks?","Strong sociality is a defining trait across much of Sturnidae, and the common starling's spectacular winter murmurations — vast, tightly coordinated aerial flocks sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands — represent an extreme, well-studied expression of a broader family-wide tendency toward group living, thought to offer benefits including improved predator detection and safety in numbers at shared roost sites.",{"q":79,"a":80},"Are all Sturnidae species accomplished mimics like the common starling?","Vocal mimicry is documented across a number of starling family species to varying degrees, and it reaches a particular extreme in some relatives, such as the hill mynas of South and Southeast Asia, renowned for their unusually accurate ability to reproduce human speech, suggesting mimicry is a broadly shared talent across the family rather than a trait unique to the common starling alone.","Photorealistic nature photo, a vast murmuration of common starlings twisting into a swirling cloud shape against a glowing dusk sky, thousands of small dark silhouettes forming a dense, fluid pattern, soft-focus blurred rooftops and bare trees below, warm orange and pink dusk light, 16:9",{},true,null,"family","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye","13.07.2026",1,[90,94,98],{"label":91,"path":92,"description":93},"Swifts (Apodidae)","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye","Another highly adaptable songbird-associated family",{"label":95,"path":96,"description":97},"Bird families","\u002Fsemeystva","Species grouped by taxonomic family",{"label":99,"path":100,"description":101},"Bird identifier","\u002Fopredelitel","Identify a bird you've seen by color, size, beak shape, habitat, and season",{"title":103,"description":104},"Starlings (Sturnidae) — traits, species, and murmurations","Sturnidae, the starling family: gregarious, iridescent songbirds known for vocal mimicry and spectacular murmurations. Traits, species, and social behavior.",{"loc":86},"semeystva\u002Fskvorcovye","duuHQi7you5RTDKfikcqRyfYzArQPOExMrQRO1Qp8r0",{"ru":83,"es":83},[110,115,120,125,130,135,141,146,151,156,161,166,171,176,181,186,191,197,198,203,208,211,216,221,226,231,236,241],{"title":111,"description":112,"path":113,"coverImage":114,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Buntings (Emberizidae)","The bunting family: sturdy, seed-eating farmland and open-country songbirds represented here by the vividly yellow-headed yellowhammer, one of Europe's most familiar hedgerow singers.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fovsyankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fovsyankovye.png",{"title":116,"description":117,"path":118,"coverImage":119,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Crows, Ravens, and Allies (Corvidae)","The crow family: some of the most intelligent birds on Earth, from the tiny, sociable jackdaw to the giant common raven, united by cognitive sophistication and remarkable behavioral flexibility.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvranovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvranovye.png",{"title":121,"description":122,"path":123,"coverImage":124,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Cuckoos (Cuculidae)","The cuckoo family: slender, long-tailed birds best known for the common cuckoo's remarkable brood-parasitic lifestyle, tricking other species into raising its young.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye.png",{"title":126,"description":127,"path":128,"coverImage":129,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Falcons (Falconidae)","The falcon family: fast, direct-flying birds of prey with a distinctive hooked, tomial-toothed beak, found on every continent except Antarctica.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsokolinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsokolinye.png",{"title":131,"description":132,"path":133,"coverImage":134,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Finches (Fringillidae)","The true finch family: small, seed-eating songbirds with conical beaks ranging from the everyday chaffinch to the specialized, cone-prying red crossbill.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvjurkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvjurkovye.png",{"title":136,"description":137,"path":138,"coverImage":139,"publishedAt":140,"order":84},"Grebes (Podicipedidae)","The grebe family: highly specialized freshwater diving birds with lobed toes, elaborate courtship displays, and chicks that ride on their parents' backs while swimming.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye.png","07.08.2026",{"title":142,"description":143,"path":144,"coverImage":145,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Gulls (Laridae)","The gull family: adaptable, highly social waterbirds ranging from the small, brown-hooded black-headed gull to the larger, plain-billed common gull, equally at home on coasts and inland waters.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye.png",{"title":147,"description":148,"path":149,"coverImage":150,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Hawks, Eagles, and Kites (Accipitridae)","The largest family of diurnal birds of prey, spanning soaring buzzards, forest-hunting goshawks, massive fish eagles, and scavenging kites united by a hooked beak and taloned feet.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fyastrebinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fyastrebinye.png",{"title":152,"description":153,"path":154,"coverImage":155,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Herons (Ardeidae)","The heron family: patient, statuesque wetland hunters with a coiled S-shaped neck and dagger-like bill, epitomized by the grey heron's motionless watch at the water's edge.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye.png",{"title":157,"description":158,"path":159,"coverImage":160,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Hoopoes (Upupidae)","A small family built around a single unmistakable species, the Eurasian hoopoe, known for its fan-like crest, curved probing beak, and unusual glandular nest defenses.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fudodovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fudodovye.png",{"title":162,"description":163,"path":164,"coverImage":165,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Larks (Alaudidae)","The lark family: streaked, ground-nesting birds of open farmland and grassland, best known for the extraordinary sustained soaring song-flight of the Eurasian skylark.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fzhavoronkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fzhavoronkovye.png",{"title":167,"description":168,"path":169,"coverImage":170,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Old World Flycatchers and Chats (Muscicapidae)","A family spanning the beloved orange-breasted robin, the vocally legendary nightingale, and the acrobatic pied flycatcher, unified more by ancestry and insect-catching habits than by appearance.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fmuholovkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fmuholovkovye.png",{"title":172,"description":173,"path":174,"coverImage":175,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Old World Orioles (Oriolidae)","A family of brilliantly colored but famously shy canopy songbirds, represented in Europe by the golden oriole, a bird more often identified by its fluting song than by sight.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fivolgovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fivolgovye.png",{"title":177,"description":178,"path":179,"coverImage":180,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Old World Sparrows (Passeridae)","The Old World sparrow family: small, sociable, seed-eating birds closely tied to human settlement, from the familiar house sparrow to its quieter, farmland-favoring relative the tree sparrow.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye.png",{"title":182,"description":183,"path":184,"coverImage":185,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Pigeons and Doves (Columbidae)","The pigeon family: stout-bodied, small-headed birds fed on crop milk as chicks, spanning the city-adapted rock dove and wood pigeon to the increasingly rare, long-distance migrant turtle dove.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye.png",{"title":187,"description":188,"path":189,"coverImage":190,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Plovers and Lapwings (Charadriidae)","The plover family: compact, large-eyed waders with short bills adapted for visual foraging, from the crested, iridescent northern lapwing to its smaller and plainer relatives.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Frzhankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Frzhankovye.png",{"title":192,"description":193,"path":194,"coverImage":195,"publishedAt":196,"order":84},"Rails, Crakes, and Coots (Rallidae)","The rail family: laterally flattened marsh specialists built for slipping through dense reed beds, ranging from the secretive corncrake to the bold, aggressive Eurasian coot.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye.png","17.08.2026",{"title":5,"description":69,"path":86,"coverImage":68,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},{"title":199,"description":200,"path":201,"coverImage":202,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Storks (Ciconiidae)","The stork family: massive, long-legged wading birds with long straight bills, epitomized by the white stork's huge rooftop nests and dramatic overland migration to Africa.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye.png",{"title":204,"description":205,"path":206,"coverImage":207,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Swallows and Martins (Hirundinidae)","The swallow family: sleek, long-winged aerial insect-hunters that spend most of their waking lives on the wing, from the red-throated barn swallow to the white-rumped house martin.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Flastochkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Flastochkovye.png",{"title":91,"description":209,"path":92,"coverImage":210,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"The swift family: extreme aerial specialists that spend nearly their entire lives in flight, closer in ancestry to hummingbirds than to the swallows they superficially resemble.","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye.png",{"title":212,"description":213,"path":214,"coverImage":215,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Sylvia Warblers (Sylviidae)","A family of small, plainly plumaged, densely-vegetation-loving warblers prized far more for their voices than their looks, exemplified by the richly singing Eurasian blackcap.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fslavkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fslavkovye.png",{"title":217,"description":218,"path":219,"coverImage":220,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Thrushes (Turdidae)","The thrush family: medium-sized, powerful-singing ground foragers, from the glossy black common blackbird to the heavily spotted song thrush and the gregarious, flocking fieldfare.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdrozdovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdrozdovye.png",{"title":222,"description":223,"path":224,"coverImage":225,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Tits (Paridae)","The tit family: small, acrobatic, cavity-nesting songbirds from the bold, dominant great tit to the tiny, cache-obsessed coal tit, among the most familiar and intensively studied garden birds in Europe.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye.png",{"title":227,"description":228,"path":229,"coverImage":230,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Typical Owls (Strigidae)","The largest owl family, spanning the familiar tawny owl, tufted long-eared owl, and the giant Eurasian eagle-owl, united by forward-facing eyes, silent flight, and mostly nocturnal habits.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsovinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsovinye.png",{"title":232,"description":233,"path":234,"coverImage":235,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae)","A family of slender, long-tailed, ground-foraging songbirds best exemplified by the constantly tail-bobbing white wagtail, equally at home beside a river or in a busy town square.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftryasoguzkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftryasoguzkovye.png",{"title":237,"description":238,"path":239,"coverImage":240,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Waterfowl (Anatidae)","The waterfowl family: ducks, geese, and swans, unified by webbed feet, waterproof plumage, and a broad flattened bill, from the familiar mallard to the massive mute swan.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Futinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Futinye.png",{"title":242,"description":243,"path":244,"coverImage":245,"publishedAt":87,"order":84},"Woodpeckers (Picidae)","The woodpecker family: powerful, tree-climbing excavators built to hammer into wood, from the widespread black-and-white great spotted woodpecker to the crow-sized black woodpecker.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye.png",[],[248,249,251],{"label":91,"path":92,"description":93,"coverImage":210},{"label":95,"path":96,"description":97,"coverImage":250},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Findex.png",{"label":99,"path":100,"description":101,"coverImage":252},"\u002Fimages\u002Fopredelitel\u002Findex.png",1787114562186]